Fumy, They look, ewish
►
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America's homeless. She
has written a book, Shar-
ing Christmas, which tells
the Christmas memories of
actors, politicians and
others, proceeds of which
will benefit the homeless.
HARRY REEMS was
the leading male por-
nography star in the 1970s;
his film credits include the
infamous Deep Throat.
Born Herbert Streicher
in New York, Mr. Reems
served in the Marines and
acted on Broadway before
starring in his first por-
nography film. In 1971 he
played a doctor in Deep
Throat, for which he
received $100. The film
grossed $100 million.
After appearing in
countless porno movies, in-
cluding Behind the Green
Door, Mr. Reems tried to
break with the industry
but was unable to find
work in regular films. He
became addicted to drugs
and alcohol and for years
kept a low profile,
prompting rumors that he
had died.
Today Mr. Reems, 43, is a
real estate agent in Utah.
He is a member of the
Methodist Church.
DAVID LEE ROTH,
Ip
the man in the tight pants
who makes teen-age girls
swoon, was born in 1955 in
Bloomington, Ind., later
settling in Pasadena,
Calif., with his family. His
uncle, Manny, owns a deli.
Mr. Roth, now a soloist
but once lead singer for the
rock group Van Halen,
began his musical career in
high school, where he
became friends with
guitarist and future fellow
Van Halen member
Michael Anthony.
Mr. Roth and Mr. An-
thony teamed up with Dut-
ch-born Alex and Eddie
Van Halen, who settled in
Pasadena in 1968, to form
the band Van Halen. They
performed throughout
California and were
discovered by disc jockey
Rodney Bingenheimer,
who started them on the
road to stardom.
Van Halen's first album,
released in 1977, was an
Continued on next page
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Assistant Editor
e was a millionaire,
a Hollywood star
and a ladies' man.
Charlie Chaplin al-
so was widely be-
lieved to be Jewish, but his
genealogy shows no Jewish
roots.
Mr. Chaplin was once
married to a Jew, the late
actress Paulette Goddard
(born Pauline Levy), and was
friendly to the Jewish com-
munity. He refused to deny
rumors that he was Jewish
because, he said, "insisting
you're not Jewish when peo-
ple think you are is fodder
for the anti-Semites."
Mr. Chaplin also made The
Great Dictator, the first
movie to show Nazi persecu-
tion of Jews. The Great Dic-
tator caused a tremendous
stir when it was released,
and Chaplin was forced to
defend his film before a con-
gressional hearing corn-
mittee, which charged the
movie was intended to pro-
mote America's entry into
the war.
Plenty of curious stories
can be found in the file of
Jewish entertainers. Every-
body knows Ethel Merman
(born Zimmerman) was Jew-
ish, so why was her
memorial service held in a
church? Pianist Vladimir
Horowitz denied that he was
Jewish; according to his
wife's wishes, his remains
were buried in a Catholic
cemetery.
Then along comes actor
Michael J. Fox — the true
love of so, so many girls —
who years ago said he want-
ed to marry a Jewish woman
(though he himself is not
Jewish). He did. Mr. Fox is
the husband of actress Tracy
Pollan; they have a son,
Max.
Many famous gentile per-
sonalities are or were mar-
ried to Jews, of course. Some
of them converted to
Judaism, like Marilyn
Monroe when she married
playwright Arthur Miller
and, more recently, Tom Ar-
nold, husband of TV star Ro-
seanne Barr. For years,
tabloids have suggested that
"Dallas" beauty Victoria
Principal would convert for
her husband, plastic surgeon
Harry Glassman.
Other gentile stars mar-
ried to Jews have not con-
verted, but have agreed to
raise their children as Jews.
H
These include Vikki Carr,
President Ford's favorite
singer, and the
"Wessonality" lady herself,
the lovable Mrs. Brady,
Florence Henderson. Dancer
and actor Gregory Hines is
not Jewish, but his wife is.
Mr. Hines has appeared at
dinners and programs
benefitting Israeli causes.
Political celebrities have
married Jews as well,
though this hasn't always
meant they were sympathet-
ic to Jewish causes. Former
Soviet leaders Leonid
Brezhnev and Josef Stalin
both had Jewish wives;
Stalin was married to the
sister of Lazar Kaganovich,
commissar for communica-
tions and heavy industry.
Former Egyptian Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs
Butros Ghali's wife was an
American-born Jew.
Wyatt Earp was married
to Josephine Marcus, a
dance-hall girl he met while
serving as sheriff of Tomb-
stone, Ariz., in the 1880s.
The couple later moved to
San Francisco. In 1929 Earp
died, and Josephine had him
buried in the Hills of Eterni-
ty, a Jewish cemetery in the
San Francisco suburb of
Colma. His wife is buried
beside him.
Like Charlie Chaplin,
many stars today are
mistakenly believed to be
Jewish. Below, a partial list
of celebrities who are not
Jewish:
• Comedian Steve Allen is
Irish Catholic.
• Actress Amy Irving, once
wed to Jewish director
Steven Spielberg and who
has portrayed Jews in Cross-
ing Delancey and Yentl, is
Christian Scientist.
• Popular British author
and critic Max Beerbohm
was for years believed to be
Jewish. He was not, but
lamented the fact that he
had not "been so fortunate
as to be born a Jew."
• He has plenty of money,
and sometimes Marla
Maples, but business tycoon
Donald Trump has no Jew-
ish genealogy.
• The late comedian
Danny Thomas was a
Lebanese Maronite Catholic.
• New York and Israel
Philharmonic conductor
Zubin Mehta was born in In-
dia. Mr. Mehta is one of
Israel's greatest friends —
during the Gulf War, he ex-
pressly went to Israel, when
much of the American Jew-
ish community would not —
but he is not Jewish. He is
Zoroastrian.
• Darryl Zanuck was the
only major studio head in
the 1930s and 1940s who
was not Jewish. He was
Catholic.
• Sen. William Cohen of
Maine is the son of a Jewish
father and a gentile mother.
He is a member of the
Unitarian Universalist
Church.
* Penny Marshall, director
of Awakenings and star of
"Laverne and Shirley," is
Italian Catholic.
• Classical pianist
Vladimir Ashkenazy is the
Pianist Vladimir
Horowitz denied
that he was
Jewish; according
to his wife's
wishes, his
remains were
buried in a
Catholic cemetery.
son of a gentile mother and
Jewish father. He does not
consider himself Jewish.
• Chess champions Bobby
Fischer of the United States
and Boris Spassky of the
Soviet Union are both sons
of Jewish fathers and gentile
mothers. Mr. Fischer is a
born-again Christian.
• Actor Jerry Orbach is
also the son of a Jewish
father and a gentile mother.
Like his mother, Mr. Orbach
is a practicing Catholic.
• Famed 19th century ac-
tress and poet, Adah Isaacs
Menken, has always been
regarded Jewish. Ms.
Menken herself was con-
sistently vague about her
genealogical origins. She
took her stage name from
the second of her five
husbands, Jewish musician
Alexander Isaac Menken
(she added the final "s" to
his middle name).
The mystery of Ms.
Menken finally was solved by
John Cofran, an independent
researcher of theater history.
Writing in the May 1990
issue of Theatre Survey, Mr.
Cofran proved that Ms.
Menken was born Ada
McCord, the first child of
Catherine and Richard
McCord of Tennessee.
Through most of her adult
life, Ms. Menken identified
as a Jew. She is buried in the
Jewish section of the Mont-
parnasse Cemetery in Paris.
Baron Lionel de Rothschild
provided her gravestone.
Other celebrities fre-
quently mistaken for being
Jewish:
• Beatles drummer Ringo
Starr (born Richard
Starkey).
• Newsman Sam
Donaldson.
• The late Ernie Kovacs, a
pioneer TV comedian of the
1950s.
• The late Dr. Seuss, born
Ted Geisel.
• He-man actor Richard
Gere.
• "Rhoda" star Valerie
Harper.
• Comedians Robin
Williams and Steve Martin.
• Rock superstar Bruce
Springsteen.
• Syria's leader Hafez al-
Assad. Yes, strange but true:
For years, Mr. Assad's
enemies have circulated the
rumor that he is Jewish and
out to destroy his country.
Mr. Assad is in fact a mem-
ber of the Alawites, a
secretive Shi'ite Islamic
sect. O
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
27
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